God is my strength and defense:
Exodus 15:1–4
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea.
“The Lord is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
he has hurled into the sea.
The best of Pharaoh’s officers
are drowned in the Red Sea.”
For over 400 years, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. In a profound display of his power, God sent a man named Moses to secure their release. Moses approached the ruler of Egypt with a request to let the people of Israel go, and when Pharaoh responded with hard-hearted cruelty, Moses informed him that God would respond.
God sent ten catastrophic plagues that finally convinced Pharaoh to let Moses lead the people out into the wilderness (read this story in Exodus chapters 8 through 11). These ten plagues showed God’s control over the things of this world: the animals, the elements, and the weather all responded to his command. God was, and remains, firmly in control of the world that we live in. He created it out of nothing (see Genesis 1) and still today keeps all of creation intact (Hebrews 1:10–12).
But God wasn’t finished with the Egyptians just yet. When Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his army off in pursuit of the fleeing Hebrews, God gave the Israelites passage through the Red Sea on dry ground, and then closed the sea around the Egyptian army, completely destroying it (Exodus 14:5–31). Key to this amazing account is the response of Moses when his people came to him, panicking and terrified as they watch the powerful Egyptian army in hot pursuit: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:13–14).
Do we feel the need for a deliverer in our daily walk? How often we long for someone to come and defend us, to make things right in our families and in our workplaces. When we sit in the hospital next to a beloved family member, we pray for God to intervene. When we look at the path our adult children are taking, sometimes we plead for God to orchestrate the circumstances of their lives so that they follow God’s path once again. We long for a deliverer to lead us out of our difficulties.
When we do, we need to remember these words from Moses. As hard as it can be to “be still,” we must wait for God to work in his way and on his timetable. When our circumstances seem beyond our control, we can think back on the people of Israel, who faced certain death as the Egyptian army charged hard after this defenseless gathering of families and animals.
God saw; God heard; God acted and delivered them. As we’ll see in many of these passages, our strength is found only in God’s might. And our God knows our circumstances; he hears our cries just as surely as he heard the cries of his people living in captivity in Egypt. As we look to find our security in him, we are lifted up and protected by our champion Defender.
Exodus 15:1–4
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea.
“The Lord is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
he has hurled into the sea.
The best of Pharaoh’s officers
are drowned in the Red Sea.”
For over 400 years, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. In a profound display of his power, God sent a man named Moses to secure their release. Moses approached the ruler of Egypt with a request to let the people of Israel go, and when Pharaoh responded with hard-hearted cruelty, Moses informed him that God would respond.
God sent ten catastrophic plagues that finally convinced Pharaoh to let Moses lead the people out into the wilderness (read this story in Exodus chapters 8 through 11). These ten plagues showed God’s control over the things of this world: the animals, the elements, and the weather all responded to his command. God was, and remains, firmly in control of the world that we live in. He created it out of nothing (see Genesis 1) and still today keeps all of creation intact (Hebrews 1:10–12).
But God wasn’t finished with the Egyptians just yet. When Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his army off in pursuit of the fleeing Hebrews, God gave the Israelites passage through the Red Sea on dry ground, and then closed the sea around the Egyptian army, completely destroying it (Exodus 14:5–31). Key to this amazing account is the response of Moses when his people came to him, panicking and terrified as they watch the powerful Egyptian army in hot pursuit: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:13–14).
Do we feel the need for a deliverer in our daily walk? How often we long for someone to come and defend us, to make things right in our families and in our workplaces. When we sit in the hospital next to a beloved family member, we pray for God to intervene. When we look at the path our adult children are taking, sometimes we plead for God to orchestrate the circumstances of their lives so that they follow God’s path once again. We long for a deliverer to lead us out of our difficulties.
When we do, we need to remember these words from Moses. As hard as it can be to “be still,” we must wait for God to work in his way and on his timetable. When our circumstances seem beyond our control, we can think back on the people of Israel, who faced certain death as the Egyptian army charged hard after this defenseless gathering of families and animals.
God saw; God heard; God acted and delivered them. As we’ll see in many of these passages, our strength is found only in God’s might. And our God knows our circumstances; he hears our cries just as surely as he heard the cries of his people living in captivity in Egypt. As we look to find our security in him, we are lifted up and protected by our champion Defender.
God is my strength and defense:
Exodus 15:1–4
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea.
“The Lord is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
he has hurled into the sea.
The best of Pharaoh’s officers
are drowned in the Red Sea.”
For over 400 years, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. In a profound display of his power, God sent a man named Moses to secure their release. Moses approached the ruler of Egypt with a request to let the people of Israel go, and when Pharaoh responded with hard-hearted cruelty, Moses informed him that God would respond.
God sent ten catastrophic plagues that finally convinced Pharaoh to let Moses lead the people out into the wilderness (read this story in Exodus chapters 8 through 11). These ten plagues showed God’s control over the things of this world: the animals, the elements, and the weather all responded to his command. God was, and remains, firmly in control of the world that we live in. He created it out of nothing (see Genesis 1) and still today keeps all of creation intact (Hebrews 1:10–12).
But God wasn’t finished with the Egyptians just yet. When Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his army off in pursuit of the fleeing Hebrews, God gave the Israelites passage through the Red Sea on dry ground, and then closed the sea around the Egyptian army, completely destroying it (Exodus 14:5–31). Key to this amazing account is the response of Moses when his people came to him, panicking and terrified as they watch the powerful Egyptian army in hot pursuit: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:13–14).
Do we feel the need for a deliverer in our daily walk? How often we long for someone to come and defend us, to make things right in our families and in our workplaces. When we sit in the hospital next to a beloved family member, we pray for God to intervene. When we look at the path our adult children are taking, sometimes we plead for God to orchestrate the circumstances of their lives so that they follow God’s path once again. We long for a deliverer to lead us out of our difficulties.
When we do, we need to remember these words from Moses. As hard as it can be to “be still,” we must wait for God to work in his way and on his timetable. When our circumstances seem beyond our control, we can think back on the people of Israel, who faced certain death as the Egyptian army charged hard after this defenseless gathering of families and animals.
God saw; God heard; God acted and delivered them. As we’ll see in many of these passages, our strength is found only in God’s might. And our God knows our circumstances; he hears our cries just as surely as he heard the cries of his people living in captivity in Egypt. As we look to find our security in him, we are lifted up and protected by our champion Defender.
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